Wire loop bending apparatus



May 31, 1966 w. J. HOGAN ETAL 3,253,521

WIRE LOOP BENDING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 19, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 60%, fizma f ATTO/P May 31, 1966 w. J. HOGAN ETAL 3,253,621

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United States Patent 3,253,621 WIRE LOGP BENDING APPARATUS William J. Hogan, Dover, and Stephen F. Dancsecs, Rockaway, N.J., assignors to Stapling Machines Co., Rockaway, N.J., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 19, 1963, Ser. No. 302,843 2 Claims. (Cl. 140-74) This invention relates to apparatus for bending an eye loop at the end of a wire binder on a wirebound box component, and more particularly to such apparatus which is adapted for inclusion in a conventional wireboundbox-making machine.

It is among the advantages of apparatus described herein as an illustrative embodiment of the present invention that it is adapted to be used asan attachment for wirebound box fabrication machinery having a vertically moving driver member. For example, wireloop bending apparatus embodying the present invention may be used to advantage with loop fastener machines of the general type disclosed in US. Patent No. 1,933,031. Such machines are employed to form loop fasteners on wirebound box and crate blanks of the general type disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 1,933,030. These box and crate blanks are customarily formed in stapling machines of the general type disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,482,370 in which properly assembled side material or slats and reinforcing cleats are conveyed by continuously moving conveyor bands beneath stapling units which drive staples astride longitudinally extending binding wires, through the side material or slats and into the cleats to form a continuous succession of wirebound box blanks each comprising several, usually four, box sections or sides foldably secured together by the binding wires. This continuous succession of box blanks is then fed into a loop fastener machine of the type referred to above. In the loop fastener machine, the binding wires are severed in the interval between adjacent box blanks, and the binding wires are bent to form prongs in the resulting end portions of the severed binding wires. The binding wires are again bent to form loops in the binding wires and to place the prongs over the adjacent edge portions of the side material of the box blanks. The loops are then secured by driving the prongs through the side material and clinching them over against the undersurface thereof. When the box blank is folded around to set up the box, the two loop fasteners at opposite ends of each of the binding wirescome into opposition at the closing corner of the box and one of these loops, being somewhat narrower than the other, is inserted through the latter and bent down against the outer surface of the box to secure the box closed.

In many applications for wirebound boxes such as for larger or longer boxes and those designed for heavy loads it is desirable to include one or more intermediately positioned wire binders for reinforcing the assembled box. However, there have been difiiculties in terminating these intermediate wire binders. In many instances these intermediate wire binders were terminated as straight ends adjacent to an outer surface of the box, but these straight ends often became bent in shipping or usage so that they projected and could snag upon other objects and upon the clothing and hands of persons moving or using such a box.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide wire loop bending apparatus capable of operating as an attachment for existing machinery having a vertically moving drive member for providing a'loop at the end of an intermediately positioned wire binder. Another object is that of providing such an apparatus which is simple and economical in construction, which is reliable in operation, and which may be readily incorporated fit in loop fastener machines of conventional type without reconstruction thereof. Additional objects will be apparent hereinafter.

In the drawings: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a box blank of a type which can be produced using apparatus embodying FIGURE 3 is an elevational view taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 2 looking toward the right.

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of the apparatus of FIGURE 3 as seen looking at FIGURE 3 from the left.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 55 in FIGURE 4, and showing the apparatus at a later stage of operation. In FIGURE 3 and FIGURE 5 the apparatus is seen from the same side.

FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 are detail views of the wirebending spindle and pins and guide means at successive stages of their operation; these FIGURES 6, 7, and 8 correspond generally with a sectional view taken along the lines 77 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 1 shows a wirebound container blank B of a type illustrated of the box components which can be made by a loop fastener machine including apparatus embodying the present invention. This container blank B is adapted for forming a crate, and it includes four sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 foldably secured together by binding wires 5, 6, and 7, respectively, which are fastened to the blank by staples 8 driven astride of the binding wires. The sections 2 and 4 form sides of the crate, when it is assembled, and the section 3 forms the bottom. In the top section 1 are included a pair of end portions 9 and 10 which are folded down within the assembled crate to provide closed ends, thus leaving the top open for loading and subsequent closure by appropriate means.

The binding wires 5 and 7 extend along longitudinal edges of the blank in alignment with cleats 11, and the intermediate binding wire 6 is secured to the side mate rial 12, which is here shown as a series of side slats. In the fabrication of this blank B, as mentioned above, a loop fastener machine 14, shown generally in FIGURE 2, provides loops 16 at the leading edge of the blank and provides narrower loops 17 at the trailing edge of the blank. Prior to the present invention the end 18 of the intermediate wire binding 6 was terminated as a straight end adjacent to the outside surface of the side material 12.

To provide a more convenient and safer assembled crate, the wire end 18 is bent into a loop 19 which extends beyond the top edge of the side section 2. Attached to the loop fastener machine 14 is wire loop bending apparatus 20 which advantageously cooperates with this machine 14 in forming the loop 19. This apparatus 20 is adapted to be included in existing machines 14 without requiring any reconstruction thereof and operates in a manner utilizing the existing driving motion of a part of the machine 14 to accomplish the wire loop bending operation as explained in detail further below.

In the loop fastener machine 14 a continuous succession of container forming blanks B moves through the machine with the blanks being supported upon a table 22. When the blanks reach the relative position as shown in FIGURE 2 at which the binding wires 5 and 7 in the interval extending between successive blanks are properly positioned with respect to the wire-cutting and prong forming assembly 24, the movement of the blanks is momentarily-stopped and the table 22 is lowered slightly 3 to a position for operation with .the cutting and prong forming assembly 24. A center movable cross bar 26, which carries the assembly 24, is then driven down along ways 27 by means of a powerful vertical drive mechanism 28 so that the assembly 24 severs the binding wires 5 and 7 and bends them to form prongs on each of the resulting cut wire ends. These pronged wire ends are bent around to form the respective loops 16 and 17. Then a pair of outer, movable cross bars 29 and 30* are driven down along their ways 31 and 32 by respective vertical drive mechanisms 33 and 34 for causing the prong driving assemblies 35 and 36 to drive the prongs into position in the blanks B and to clinch them in place for completing the loops 16 and 17. At the completion of this operation the assemblies 24, 35, and 36 are raised, the table 22 is raised slightly back to its initial position, and the succession of blanks B is advanced to the next interval. The respective vertical drive mechanisms 28, 33, and 34 are geared together as indicated so that they operate in predetermined cyclic relationship.

In order to mount the wire loop bending apparatus 20 in the machine 14, a rigid bracket 38 is releasably attached to one of the outer, vertically driven cross bars 29 or 30, and this bracket carries a support arm 40. In this illustrative example the bracket 38 and arm 40* are seen as being attached to the cross bar 29 so that the machine 14 and apparatus 20 are set up for fabricating the type of container blank B as shown in FIGURE 1. However, it will be appreciated from the following description that the apparatus 20 may conveniently be used in a wide variety of different installations and setups for forming different types of wirebound box components.

As the cross bar 29 is driven up and down during the operation of the machine 14, the support arm 40* has a corresponding vertical motion, and advantageously the wire loop bending apparatus 20 converts this vertical motion into the rotary motion of a spindle 42 (FIGURE 5) which forms the loop 19 (FIGURESql and 8). The spindle 42 is journaled in a sleeve bearing 44 in a spindle housing 46 containing a miter gear 48 secured to the spindle 42 and driven by another miter gear 50 which is secured to the shaft 52 of a spur gear 54. The spur gear 54 acts as a pinion, as shown in FIGURE 4, and is operated by a gear rack 56 which is adjustably mounted on the frame member 58.

In order to adjust the position of the rack 56, an adjusting screw 60 is mounted on the frame 58 and engages the top end of a rack-supporting element 62 so as to set the location of the rack 56 with respect to the frame 58, and the screw 60 is locked in place by a locknut 64.

As shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the frame member 58 is connected to a pair of generally U-shaped side plates 66 which straddle the main mounting arm 40. These side plates 66 are adjustably clamped to the arm 40 by means of a clamp spacer block 68 and a releasable clamp 70 held by studs 72 which are threaded into an upper mounting block 73 and into a lower mounting block 74 secured to the side plates 66, as shown in FIGURE 3, by machine screws 75.

In FIGURES 3 and 4 the operating parts are shown in their initial neutral position wherein a latch 76 engages beneath the lip of a latch-engaging head element '78 which is fastened by adjusting means 80 to the top of a control bar 82 for controlling the vertical movement of the spindle housing 46. The lower end of this control bar 82 is connected to the spindle housing 46 as indicated in FIGURE 5, and the control bar 82 can slide up and down through a passage 84 in the frame member 58.

For purposes of pre-positioning the spindle 42 for subsequent loop bending as shown by the movement arrow .85 (FIGURE 6), the following sequence of steps takes place. When the main support arm 40 is raised from the initial neutral position to its maximum height 40, .as seen in FIGURE 2 a latch-tripping leg 86 of the latch 76 strikes against a latch release bar 88 (FIGURE 5), thus releasing the control bar 82 so that the spindle housing 46 is driven down by a compression spring 90. This compression spring 90 was previously held in constraint by the engaged latch 76. The spring is guided by a rod 92 and is seated up into a recess 94 in the frame member 58. The rod 92 can slide up and down along a passage 96, and at the lower end of this rod is a seat 97 for the end of the spring, thus the spring thrusts down on the spindle housing 46 for moving it down when the latch 76 is released.

The downward movement of the spindle housing 46 causes the pinion 54 to roll down along the rack 56, as seen in FIGURE 5, for this rack is temporarily held in its upper position by the raised support arm 40'. Consequently, the miter gears 50 and 48 are rotated for prepositioning the spindle 42 by turning it through a suitable angle, which is shown in FIGURE 6 as being an angular movement of approximately 250. The downward motion of the spindle houring 46 is checked by stops 98 (FIGURE 4) which are engaged by stop-adjusting screws 99 on a cross head 100 secured to the latch-engaging head element 78.

The latch release bar 88 is mounted on the machine 14 (FIGURE 2) for vertical adjustment by mounting screws 101 secured to a cantilever beam 102 attached by adjustable clamps 103 to a pair of fixed cross bars 104 and 105 held by brackets 106 and107 on the machine. The clamps 103 can be adjusted along the cross bars 104 and 105 for positioning the apparatus 20 at the desired lateral position, and the length of the latch release bar 88 accommodates longitudinal positioning of the clamp 70 along the main support arm 40. It will be noted in FIGURE 2 that the support arm 40 can be adjusted laterally along the cross bar 29, for the bracket 38 is held onto the cross bar 29 by a clamp 108. The engagement of the latch-tripping element 86 against the latch release bar 88 is indicated in dashed lines in FIG- URE 2. As shown in FIGURE 5, the latch 76 has an adjustable stop 109 and is pivoted at 110, being urged toward engaged position by a spring 112.

After the spindle has been pre-positioned by the sequence of actions described above, the main support arm 40 moves downwardly, carrying the spindle housing 46 and the frame 58 down together in the spaced relation shown in FIGURE 5. A distance before the arm 40 reaches the bottom of its stroke, a pair-of converging wire guide elements 114 (see also FIGURE 7) straddle the wire end 18 and guide it between a pair of wire loop bending pins 115 and 116 which project down from the spindle 42. The pin 1 15 is axially located on the spindle 42, and the other pin 116 is eccentrically positioned a suitable distance from the binding wire 6. The guides 114 are offset by a slotted support 118 (FIGURE 4) thus providing clearance 119 for the wire end 18 to be swung around as it is bent into a loop 19 (FIGURE 8).

As the arm 40 continues down, a large stop screw 120 on the spindle housing 46 seats down upon the blank B which issupported on a reaction plate associated with the table 22. Thus, the spindle housing 46 is prevented from further downward movement, while the arm 40, frame 58 and rack 56 all continue moving down so as to move the rack 56 down with respect to the pinion 54. Consequently, the spindle 42 is now rotated back to its initial position to form the loop as shown in FIGURE 8. This downward motion of the frame 58 with respect to the spindle housing 46 compresses the spring 90 and reengages the latch 76 as the downward movement is completed. Then the latch parts return up to their initial neutral position as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

From the fore-going description it will be seen that apparatus described herein as illustratively embodying the present invention provides several advantages in operation, but it is to be understood that this particular embodiment which is shown and described herein is intended as illustrative of the principles of the invention rather than as exhaustive thereof or as restrictive of the coverage of this patent, which is limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a wire'oound container making machine, Wire loop bending apparatus for forming a loop in the end portion of a binding wire attached to a container blank comprising a frame for connection to a vertically movable part of the machine, a rotatable member having a vertical axis, wireloop bending means mounted on said rotatable member for engagement with a wire end portion, a support for said rotatable member, means mounting said support on said frame for permitting vertical movement of said support with respect to said frame, spring means for urging said support down to a lower position with respect to said frame, a vertical gear rack on said frame and a pinion on said support meshing With said gear rack and coupled to said rotatable member for converting downward motion of said frame relative to said support into rotation of said rotatable member in a first direction and for converting upward motion of said frame relative to said support into rotation of said rotatable member in a second direction, latch means for holding said support in an upper position with respect to said frame, release means for releasing said latch means when said frame is near the top of its movement, thereby allowing said spring means to move said support down to its lower position and pre-positioning said rotatable member in the first direction, and stop means on said support for arresting downward movement of said support when said wireloop bending means have engaged a wire end portion, thereby causing said rotatable member to be rotated in the second direction for forming the loop upon downward movement of said frame and causing re-engagement of said latch means.

'2. Wire p bending apparatus adapted to be attached to a vertically movable part of a machine for making wirebound container components comprising mounting means for attachment to said part, a frame carried by said mounting means, a vertical gear rack on said frame, a housing mounted on said frame for vertical movement with respect to said frame, a pinion on said housing engaging said rack, Wire-bending means on said housing driven by said pinion, and means for controlling the relative movement between said frame and housing for operating said wire bending means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,454,517 5/1923 Koch -104 1,685,626 9/1928 Bauwens 140-93 2,024,188 12/1935 Rosenmund et a1. 14093 2,547,514 4/1951 Woodbury 140-93 2,856,969 10/1958 Waful 140-102 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner. L. A. LARSON, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A WIREBOUND CONTAINER MAKING MACHINE, WIRE LOOP BENDING APPARATUS FOR FORMING A LOOP IN THE END PORTION OF A BINDING WIRE ATTACHED TO A CONTAINER BLANK COMPRISING A FRAME FOR CONNECTION TO A VERTICALLY MOVABLE PART OF THE MACHINE, A ROTATABLE MEMBER HAVING A VERTICAL AXIS, WIRELOOP BENDING MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A WIRE END PORTION, A SUPPORT FOR SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER, MEANS MOUNTING SAID SUPPORT ON SAID FRAME FOR PERMITTING VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF SAID SUPPORT WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME, SPRING MEANS FOR URGING SAID SUPPORT DOWN TO A LOWER POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME, A VERTICAL GEAR RACK ON SAID FRAME AND A PINION ON SAID SUPPORT MESHING WITH SAID GEAR RACK AND COUPLED TO SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER FOR CONVERTING DOWNWARD MOTION OF SAID FRAME RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT INTO ROTATION OF SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER IN A FIRST DIRECTION AND FOR CONVERTING UPWARD MOTION OF SAID FRAME RELATIVE TO SAID SUPPORT INTO ROTATION OF SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER IN A SECOND DIRECTION, LATCH MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID SUPPORT IN AN UPPER POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID FRAME, RELEASE MEANS FOR RELEASING SAID LATCH MEANS WHEN SAID FRAME IS NEAR THE TOP OF ITS MOVEMENT, THEREBY ALLOWING SAID SPRING MEANS TO MOVE SAID SUPPORT DOWN TO ITS LOWER POSITION AND PRE-POSITIONING SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER IN THE FIRST DIRECTION, AND STOP MEANS ON SAID SUPPORT FOR ARRESTING DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID SUPPORT WHEN SAID WIRELOOP BENDING MEANS HAVE ENGAGED A WIRE END PORTION, THEREBY CAUSING SAID ROTATABLE MEMBER TO BE ROTATED IN THE SECOND DIRECTION FOR FORMING THE LOOP BEYOND DOWNWARD MOVEMENT OF SAID FRAME AND CAUSING RE-ENGAGEMENT OF SAID LATCH MEANS. 